When you enter a new league such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) — a league featuring some of the best collegiate athletes in the world — as the Clan did three years ago, there will be a learning curve. In SFU’s first few years in the world’s largest collegiate sports league, that curve proved steep for several SFU teams.

After three years, though you might not expect to be world-beaters, you’d at least expect progress. But in the case of women’s volleyball, after three dismal seasons in the NCAA Division II, it’s tough to say there’s been much — if any. But now, armed with a new coach and a new atmosphere, the squad might finally be trending upwards.

To say the team has in fact regressed might sound harsh, but it might not be untrue, especially when looking at the numbers alone. In their first season in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), the Clan posted 4–14 conference record. In the two seasons since, the team has won just two games total, going a combined 2–34 in GNAC play.

Six conference wins over a span of three seasons was enough to instill a major change in the Clan locker room. Former head coach Lisa Sulatycki stepped down at the end of last season, marking the first step in a change of direction for the team.

The next step was the hiring of Gina Schmidt, a native of Beaverlodge, Alberta, to replace her.

Schmidt, who had a decorated career as a player with Oregon State University, spent the past five seasons as the top assistant coach for Div. I’s University of Montana Grizzlies. That wealth of experience, particularly NCAA experience, is something the team had sorely been lacking, and something she hopes can help her new team.

“The NCAA is different from the Canadian system [CIS] in a number of ways so obviously my background as a player and coach in the States has been helpful stepping into this position,” she said. “I am already familiar with many of the players in our conference from my time recruiting for Montana and, as a result, I know the kind of athletes I need to recruit to our program in order to be successful. I think if we can expand our recruiting efforts and I can pass on some of my experiences to the current players in our program, we will be heading in the right direction.”

That said, she’ll be the first to tell you that “heading in the right direction” does not mean an immediate turnaround. Far from it.

“There is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to building a program or changing the culture of a team [or] organization,” she admits. “However, I believe that there are a lot of pieces already in place here to allow for the rebuilding process to happen sooner than later. But as with anything, it is a process.”

So far, it’s been quite a slow one, but Schmidt is someone who hasn’t been in many losing locker rooms throughout her career (her Grizzlies team won nearly 60 per cent of its games with her on the coaching staff). A new, winning attitude stemming from its new, winning coach might just suit this team well. And it might just turn that process into progress.

Schmidt, in talking about why she chose to come to SFU, says all the pieces are in place for that to happen.

“I saw this position as a great opportunity. From the outside looking in, SFU is a great school in a great location and the athletic department has had a lot of success in several sports. I figured there is no reason that SFU can’t have that same sort of success in volleyball.

“I only had a few weeks to work with my current team before school got out in April,” she continued, “but I’ve really enjoyed being back in the gym with them this preseason. I think we have great group of girls and I’m looking forward to the season ahead.”

Of course, only time will tell how this team fares in 2013, but for the first time in a while, it’s safe to enter the season with a little positivity. There’s still a long way to go, as Schmidt will tell you, but for now, we can confidently call it a work in progress.

The SFU women’s soccer team is no stranger to diversity. Since opening its National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) with an 11–5–3 overall record in their inaugural season, the team has been hit with a bad case of the injury bug. The team’s record the past two seasons has reflected that, and this season the injury situation is no different. But with a healthy frontline for the first time in a long time, this exceptionally young team might now be building towards finding its new identity in the NCAA.

Over the past two years, players like Karm Jawanda — now healthy, and a captain this year despite being just a (medical) redshirt sophomore — have been lost to broken feet and torn ACLs that have kept key players out of the lineup for extended lengths of time.

This season, Amanda Gilliland, last year’s starting goalkeeper who happened to lead the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) in saves, left the team due to nagging injury concerns. That left two true freshmen to compete for the starting spot, but matters were made worse when one hit her head in practice, and is currently on the sidelines with a concussion. Head coach Shelley Howieson says she’ll be forced to use one of her best backline players as the team’s number-two keeper.

“It’s up in the air,” said Howieson. “Is it going to go in this direction, or is to going to go that direction? We’re going to find out in the next couple weeks.”

Howieson is speaking about her current goalkeeping situation, but she may as well be talking about her team as a whole. There are eight freshman listed on the 22-player roster, some of whom will most likely see the pitch. And players like Jawanda, who lead her team in scoring her freshman year, are returning from long absences. It is, without a doubt, a year of transition for the Clan, as Howieson figures out how her new players—both freshmen and those coming back from injuries—will work themselves into the fold.

“We’re trying to find our feet right now,” said Howieson. “I think the freshmen are going to contribute this year, and I’m looking forward to see how they gel with some of the returning players we didn’t have on the field last year.”

She’s had a few chances to look at what she’s working with, including a few exhibition games. The results have been positive — so far — but Howieson was quick to emphasize that exhibition games are more for experimentation than for the score sheets.

“These are all just exhibition games,” said Howieson, who’s led the Clan since the team’s inception in 1988. “I’m just trying to shuffle people around and see what’s going on; to get a feel for the team.

“It’s a real conglomeration of trying to get a starting lineup set and get everybody established in their positions.”

The real test will come when the Clan kicks off its conference schedule with a road-heavy opening few weeks.

“We’ve got some heavy competition early on in the schedule, but those games will be good tests for us to see where we’re headed competitively.”

But where this team stands now is uncertain. The goaltending situation is anything but enviable, but getting a handful of players back from injury could be a major shot in the arm. Either way, a youthful team has a chance to grow as a unit that could stay together for a few years, and that’s a positive regardless of whether the team ends up this way or that.